For to be free . . .: TOLT

. . . is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.
–Nelson Mandela

Today I’m still Thinking Out Loudanimals. I know, shocking right? It’s so easy to get consumed with our own troubles. Lauren wrote a great blog post, Beating Running Burnout, that advises one of the best ways to keep running fun is to share your love of running with other people.

You should check it out!

I keep burn out to a minimum by taking off seasons, chasing my goal to run a half in every state, and running with friends when I can.

I’m also thinking about freedom. Nelson Mandela’s quote definitely spoke to me — that’s what we need to teach Bandit.

Finally a reCaptcha I enjoyed!reCaptcha is usually so totally annoying. Especially the ones where they make you keep choosing images until you’ve chosen all of them, but even the ones that make you choose three or four are often quite annoying.

The one with waterfalls was quite lovely though — I actually enjoyed it! Could I have that one more often, please?

Chester is the only male I had for a long time. But there was Chekov, the trial adoption we had before him. And now Bandit. I seem to bring out the guarding instinct in male dogs.

It’s not because I let them get away with anything, or am not a good leader (at least I don’t think so). Chester always listened to me and he knew when he was in the doghouse. We didn’t have Chekov long enough to figure him out, and we definitely haven’t had Bandit long enough to figure him out, even though we’ve had him significantly longer than we had Chekov.

I’m sure there are male dogs out there who aren’t the least bit interested in protecting their humans, right?

This girl was worth the work

Let’s talk a little about visceral againI did have a visceral reaction to Lola. Mr. Judy was on a business trip. I was surfing the Web one night, looking at rescue sites. We weren’t planning to get a second dog. Chester already cost enough and was enough work!

And then I saw Lola’s photo.

I had an overwhelming feeling she was meant to be our dog. It was really weird. And when we adopted her, she was such a mess — not house trained, not crate trained, reactive to other dogs on leash (except Chester).

Mr. Judy spent quite a few weeks walking around grumbling “I didn’t sign up for this“. It turned out well in the end, obviously, through a lot of hard work. It’s definitely how I feel about Bandit — I definitely didn’t sign up for this.

We are trying to give Gizmo some freedom againWe met with the trainer again last night to learn how to train Bandit to wear a muzzle. Just when I think I’m overreacting, Bandit really went after Lola while he was in his crate yesterday.

Granted, he was in his crate and he couldn’t actually do anything to her.He didn’t have any treats in there (not any more) and it was way more than growling.

Anyway, no one was bitten (the time he bit the vet she was trying to muzzle him). He’s doing well, but we’re still fairly far away from being able to actually muzzle him. He’ll stick his nose in for treats. Slow and steady.

The trainer also suggested that we ought to try walking Bandit and Lola together, that if we want to adopt him he needs to be kept up on his socialization. The same trainer who last week suggested we continue to keep them all separate.

So we did walk them a bit together this morning — we won’t be able to to do it every morning, and I’m not ready to walk the both of them together yet, so Mr. Judy will continue to get his exercise. Lola was a little nervous, but Bandit seemed to really enjoy it, and we had no incidents despite the fact I forgot the cheese (a high value treat).

And I didn’t feed Gizmo in the laundry room or lock him in there — yet. I’m hoping he goes out at some point in the afternoon so I can relax a bit later on when I’m sure to be more tired without having to be vigilant.It’s giving me the chance to actually do some laundry right now. And it’s going to be interesting when I go up in a little while and gate Bandit into the kitchen with me and do some baking.

Gnome was a bustUnless I’m missing something. I couldn’t really hear it/feel it while running on the treadmill. And it doesn’t run with the running app on my Vivoactive. So sad. So I can run the running app (which tells me things like pace and elapsed time and distance), or I can run Gnome, which helps me run a certain cadence.

Could you guys make it so it could be a data field?

Why is it so hard to get into your clothes after swimming?Well, I googled it, of course. Let’s just say all sorts of interesting subjects, most not even remotely related to that question pop up.

I finally got this answer from Yahoo:

The water is absorbed by the clothing and the fabric shrinks temporarily

Except why would absorbing water cause clothes to shrink? I mean, a soggy shirt is actually bigger. Sort of. Right?I guess we can chalk it up to some of those weird, unsolved annoying problems, unless you have an answer for me.

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23 thoughts on “For to be free . . .: TOLT”

A great thinking out loud post! Sorry that Bandit had a go at Lola, but it was kind of hopeful that they had a good walk together? How long have you had him now?

As for getting burned out on running… indeed it happens. Then I take a couple of weeks off, only to turn around and regret it… so I try not to ever think about more than just one run at a time. My running chart does that for me. 😀

Lovely quotes today Judy. Funny how sometimes a few short words can say so much. You are so dedicated to your animals, I’m sure that only good can come from this, no matter what happens to bandit you are teaching him to integrate with society – people and dogs!
Re running burnout. Having a lifestyle that supports running is important, getting enough sleep, good food and time to run. If you can do that then running supports the rest of it. But if you lose one of them the rest come tumbling down!

The rescue people thought Bandit would be just fine with other pets. Maybe. Hard to tell. I actually do think he would be better as an only pet, but he’s not likely to be going anywhere anytime soon.

I use my phone to run the RoadID app, so that doesn’t work (not to mention the Gnome app is specifically for the watch).

I tried to do that in the past, actually, but the free app I used had a tendency to turn itself off, or slow down, or speed up. I may have to do a bit more sleuthing to see if I can find something better for the watch but just haven’t had time.

Putting on jeans after a shower has got to be one of my least favourite things to do, but I always figured it was because my skin wasn’t as smooth so the clothes would kind of stick to the dampness? I have no idea… just theorizing 😉 And I always try to switch things up to avoid burnout. Whether it’s new music, a new outfit, or a new route… I just try to keep it interesting. And if that doesn’t work, then I take a break for a while and find that I’ll start missing it and want to get back.

No dogs for me but I did babysit for a family that had a male dog that was extremely protective of female humans. I haven’t had running burnout. It’s good that Bandit and Lola were able to walk together. Yay for Gizmo being able to have a bit of freedom. I always figured clothes were hard to put on after swimming/showering because there is still moisture on my skin that creates more friction.

I think Mr. Judy said something along the same lines about putting back on clothes when you’re wet (I was just reporting what I found, which I was highly skeptical of).

I’m pretty sure Gizmo is happy to be able to hang out in the house in the morning. Unfortunately, he has decided he needs to take over Bandit’s very large pet bed downstairs, and that could lead to a kerfuffle someday.

This would always have been hard, but it’s a lot harder with 2 other animals in the house!

Our dog is a male, and is VERY protective of me and my girls. I’ve been on life burn out for a bit now, and would LOVE to get out a run free for a couple hours, hehe! Sadly I am not longer trained for a couple hour run.

Chester was a great guard dog, too. Although he would have licked you to death once you got inside. I’m not sure Bandit would do that to strangers — so far the only person who’s come into our home was the trainer. Which probably isn’t the greatest thing.

I can only get out for my long run when my husband is home, so I understand why it would be hard for you!

I always wonder if Mother Teresa said that quote a little tongue in cheek. She was a true picture of selflessness 😉
That picture of Bandit is priceless!
I wonder if he felt irritated just because he was crated – that is hard to call. My animals have had some serious tussles and get loud with each other and will be best friends 10 minutes later. I guess like siblings.
I have tried acclimating my animals different ways depending on personality, but they seem to better when they feel like they can get away. I know you hate to seee anyone get bit though, it is awful.
I am burned out right now on running LOL half kidding…actually, i am burned out on pain. I love running I don’t want it to hurt.
I love seeing my cadence data!!

No,he’s not real fond of being crated, but he’s actually pretty good about it. We’ve tried hard to make it a positive experience, but unfortunately he won’t chew. Anything. Except nylon leashes, apparently.

Simba & Gizmo were littermates and they really got into it at times. There were scratches, but never bites.

And of course Chester & Lola would get snippy with each other on occasion.

It’s different. And after a month, Bandit still makes Lola nervous. Not that they get a whole lot of interaction, but Chester never made her feel that way, and part of why we adopted Bandit was to get a companion for Lola again. Epic fail. 😦

It’s not fun at all when running hurts. I know that from first hand experience!

Last summer I only ran 3 x week due to injury. This summer, thankfully, so far, knock on wood (and the creek don’t rise), I’m running 4 x week. I have to say I prefer it — because my weekday runs can be short & sweet & I need that right now.

The only problem with it is that’s it’s very difficult to move runs around. For instance, I was invited to a friend’s house next week, on Thursday — one of my busier days. I’ve got my WW meeting & I need to run. I’m hoping I can go a little later in the day.

If I move that run to wed, I’ll have run 3 days in a row, which I try to avoid. If I do it friday, it’s a tempo run before my long run –not so good.